Eli "Laki" Thompson ( English Eli "Lucky" Thompson ; 1924-2005) - American tenor - and soprano saxophonist , one of the prominent soloists of the 1950s and 1960s.
| Lucky Thompson Lucky thompson | |
|---|---|
 Al McKibbon, Lucky Thompson and Hilda Taylor, New York, July 1948, Photographer William Gottlieb | |
| basic information | |
| Birth name | Eli Thompson |
| Date of Birth | June 16, 1924 |
| Place of Birth | Columbia , South Carolina , USA |
| Date of death | July 30, 2005 (81 years old) |
| Place of death | Seattle , Washington , USA |
| A country |  USA |
| Professions | saxophonist , band leader |
| Years of activity | 1942-1970 |
| Instruments | tenor saxophone , soprano saxophone |
| Genres | jazz |
| Labels | and |
Biography
The early years
Born June 16, 1924 in Columbia , South Carolina . As a child, he moved to Detroit , Michigan. [1] After the death of his mother, he was forced to independently take care of his younger brothers and sisters. He acquired his first saxophone at the age of 15 and took private lessons. At the end of school, in 1942 he joined the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra .
Career
At first he played in swing orchestras: with Lionel Hampton (1943), Billy Extine , Lucky Millinder , County Basie (1944-1945), and in 1946-1947, living in California , with Boyd Rayburn and Dizzy Gillespie . He later worked in the style of rhythm and blues , then chose bebop and hard bop , speaking with artists such as Kenny Clark , Miles Davis , Gillespie and Milt Jackson .
In 1948, having moved to New York , he began to collaborate with Oscar Pettyford . In the same year, along with his big band performed at the festival in Nice . His own band and collaboration with Pettiford in the 1950s played an important role in the history of world jazz. In addition, Thompson collaborated with other musicians. In 1950 he played in the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, in 1951 for a short time joined the Big Basy band, also worked with Horace Silver , Stan Kenton , JJ Johnson . His best records are Walkin ' and Blue N' Boogie (shared with Art Blake ).
From 1957 to 1963, Lucky Thompson lived in Europe (in Paris and Baden-Baden ). In Paris, he made several notes. At the same time, he began to play the soprano saxophone [1] . In 1963 he returned to New York. Then, from 1968 to 1970, he lived in Lausanne , Switzerland , where he recorded a number of albums, including A Lucky Songbook in Europe .
In the 1970s, he settled on a farm in Michigan and stopped performing. Since 1971, he taught at several colleges.
Subsequent years
Then Lucky Thompson lived in Seattle . Friends claimed that until the early 1990s he led the life of a homeless hermit. He died of Alzheimer's disease on July 30, 2005 [1] [2] .
Family
He was married to Thelma Thompson ( Thelma Thompson ), who passed away in 1963 [3] . His son, guitarist Daryl Thompson, played with Peter Tosh and the band Black Uhuru until he began to play jazz in the late 1980s [4] . Lucky Thompson also had a daughter, Jade Thompson-Fredericks, and two grandchildren.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Jazz great Eli Thompson soared for 3 decades, fell silent The Seattle Times on August 6, 2005.
- ↑ Lucky Thompson . The Guardian, October 2005.
- ↑ Johnson John H. New York Beat. - Chicago: Johnson, 1963 , restored. in 2011.
- ↑ Johnson John H. New Image. - Chicago: Johnson, 1989 , restored. in 2011.
Links
- Thompson "Lucky" // Thompson "Lucky" . Encyclopedia KM.ru.
- Lucky Thompson, Jazz Saxophonist, Is Dead at 81 . The New York Times, August 5, 2005.